In The Observers issue of November 15, 1936, in a review section entitled " Supreme de Poirot ", " Torquemada " ( Edward Powys Mathers ) said, " I was not the only one who thought that Poirot or his creator had gone a little off the rails in Murder in Mesopotamia, which means that others beside myself will rejoice at Mrs. Christie's brilliant come-back in Cards on the Table.

* The Age of Torquemada, by John Edward Longhurst ( 1962 ).

* The ritual murder of La Guardia, John Edward Longhurst, chapter of the book The Age of Torquemada, Coronado Press, 1962.

In The Observers issue of June 30, 1935 " Torquemada " ( Edward Powys Mathers ) started his review by saying, " My admiration for Mrs. Christie is such that with each new book of hers I strain every mental nerve to prove that she has failed, at last, to hypnotise me.

In The Observers issue of January 5, 1936, " Torquemada " ( Edward Powys Mathers ) said, " Ingenuity ... is a mild term for Mrs. Christie's gift.

* Edward Powys Mathers as Torquemada

In The Observers issue of May 1, 1938, " Torquemada " ( Edward Powys Mathers ) said, " I have to confess I have just been beaten again by Agatha Christie.

In The Observers issue of January 6, 1935, " Torquemada " ( Edward Powys Mathers ) said, " Her gift is pure genius, of leading the reader by the nose in a zigzag course up the garden and dropping the lead just when she wishes him to scamper to the kill.

In The Observers issue of July 12, 1936, " Torquemada " ( Edward Powys Mathers ) said, " Agatha Christie has a humorous, well-observed story amongst the ruins of Tell Yarimjah, and her latest method of murder, which got me guessing fruitlessly, has, as usual, more simplicity of a miracle than the complication of a conjuring trick.

In The Observers issue of July 18, 1937, " Torquemada " ( Edward Powys Mathers ) said, " usually after reading a Poirot story the reviewer begins to scheme for space in which to deal with it adequately ; but Dumb Witness, the least of all the Poirot books, does not have this effect on me, though my sincere admiration for Agatha Christie is almost notorious.

In The Observer of December 18, 1938, " Torquemada " ( Edward Powys Mathers ), a stated admirer of Christie, finished his review by stating defensively, " Is Hercule Poirot's Christmas a major Christie?

In The Observers issue of November 18, 1934, " Torquemada " ( Edward Powys Mathers ) stated that Christie was, " the only consistently inspired practitioner of an art where ingenuity and industry have so often to substitute for genius.

( 1892 – 1939 ), who called himself Torquemada in honour of the great Inquisitor — for compilers to use evocative pseudonyms.

* September 16 – Tomás de Torquemada, first grand inquisitor ( b. 1420 )

Within his own order, Torquemada was influential as visitator of the reformed Dominican priories of Aragon ( 1481 – 88 ), and his interest in the arts is evidenced in the monastery of St. Thomas at Ávila, where he died.

During the scene about the Spanish Inquisition, an inquisitor introduces Torquemada by saying, " Torquemada – do not implore him for compassion.

Torquemada – do not beg him for forgiveness.

Torquemada – do not ask him for mercy.

Like Torquemada, Deza was accused of being overzealous in his work, and of showing excessive cruelty – his reputation was sufficient that in 1507, the Pope was forced to publicly request moderation.

Juan de Torquemada ( 1388 – 26 September 1468 ), or rather Johannes de Turrecremata, Spanish ecclesiastic, was born at Valladolid, and was educated in that city.

Torquemada attended the Council of Basel ( 1431 – 1449 ) as a representative of his order and of the King of Castile.

As the Grand Inquisitor, Torquemada reorganized the Spanish Inquisition, which had been set up in Castile in 1478, establishing tribunals at Sevilla ( Seville ), Jaén, Córdoba, Ciudad Real, and, later, Zaragoza.

* Enid A. Goldberg & Norman Itzkowitz, " Tomas de Torquemada " ( A Wicked History ), ( Scholastic Books, 2008 ) ISBN 1-4351-0322-X.

* Annunciation ( 1485 ), by Antoniazzo Romano-shows Cardinal Juan de Torquemada OP presenting girls who received a dowry by his Guild of the Annunciation to the Virgin.

The first of these was the Spanish Cardinal Juan de Torquemada and the second Roderigo Borgia ( later Alexander VI ), who remodeled the Castrum Sublacence, once the summer resort of the popes, and made it the residence of the commendatory abbot.

He was the nephew of a celebrated theologian and cardinal, Juan de Torquemada, who himself was a descendant of a converso ( someone who had converted to Christianity from Islam or Judaism ).

Torquemada ’ s implacable hostility to the Jews probably exercised an influence on the decision of Ferdinand and Isabella to expel from their dominions all Jews who had not embraced Christianity.

However, Torquemada showed no mercy to those who refused to repent.

All were men who enjoyed the confidence of Torquemada.

The most famous Inquisitor General was the Spanish Dominican Tomás de Torquemada, who spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition.

The ruler of Tlemcen is reported to have been advised by a Jewish viceroy named Abraham, who, in the time of the Inquisition of Torquemada, opened the gates of Tlemcen to Jewish and Muslim refugees fleeing Spain.

Like Torquemada, Deza had a particular dislike of conversos — Jews or Muslims who had converted to Christianity but who were often accused of secretly retaining their original faith.

A painting by Antoniazzo Romano showing the Annunciation has in its background Torquemada presenting girls who received dowry funds from a guild he founded to the Virgin Mary.

It is said also that Ferdinand hesitated, but was prevented from accepting the offer by Torquemada, the grand inquisitor, who dashed into the royal presence and, throwing a crucifix down before the king and queen, asked whether, like Judas, they would betray their Lord for money.

* Torquemada, an earlier Pat Mills character who purged deviants.

There, he meets Cotton Mather of the Salem Witch Trials, Tomas de Torquemada of the Spanish Inquisition, and other famous inquisitors from history, who, despite their reputations as shrewd and conniving characters, call themselves " mere untutored novices " compared to the Senator.

By this, he transferred the principles of the Inquisition set by Tomas Torquemada in Spain.

Some pseudonyms have obvious connotations: for example, Torquemada as already described, or " Mephisto " with fairly obvious devilish overtones.

It had existed in the Kingdom of Aragon for some two centuries but not in Castile until the year 1480 when the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, requested its establishment throughout Spain with the converso and Dominican friar, Tomás de Torquemada, as its first Inquisitor General.

As a zealous advocate of church orthodoxy, Torquemada earned a solid reputation for the triple virtues of learning, piety, and austerity.

Torquemada even advised her to marry King Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469 in order to consolidate their kingdoms and form a power base that he could draw upon for his own purposes.

The pope appointed a number of inquisitors for the Spanish Kingdoms early in the year of 1482, and Torquemada was one of them.

Known for an extreme devotion to his cause, and loyalty to his patrons, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Torquemada headed an organization of ecclesiastical courts which imprisoned, tortured, and burned suspected nonbelievers at the stake.

Torquemada, for the first while, improved the procedures of previous inquisitions by moderating the ( then widespread ) use of torture.

The segment opens with a herald introducing Torquemada and making a play on his name, noting that despite the pleas for mercy from the condemned, that you " can't Torquemada anything " ( talk him outta anything ).

He was also a composer of cryptic crosswords for The Observer under the pseudonym " Torquemada " from 1926 until his death.

One of Lasalle's major faults was his willingness to repay resistance with brutality and it was said of him he “ made Spain tremble .” In June, Lasalle was responsible for the torching of Torquemada, a village that resisted his troops.